The present invention relates to an image capture system and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for capturing reflective and transmissive data from an image.
Image capture devices are currently used for a wide variety of applications. Typical applications include document scanning (possibly including optical character recognition (OCR)), digital photography, photographic print scanning, and photographic transparency scanning. Many photographers currently capture images to photographic films using standard 35 mm, medium format, or large format cameras. The resulting film (or print) may then be digitally captured using a scanner. Many of these scanners allow only the capture of images from either transparencies or prints. Some scanners, such as the Hewlett-Packard a PhotoSmart(trademark) S20 (Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif.), allow the user to choose between scanning a print, a 35 mm mounted transparency, or a strip of 35 mm film.
Many photographers use transparency film, since many current publications prefer to have images submitted in this format. The images are then scanned for inclusion in the publication and the transparencies are returned to the photographer. Such photographers may have collections of tens of thousands of transparencies that must be organized in a way that the photographer is able to find a particular image at any later date. 35 mm transparencies typically are mounted in plastic or cardboard 2 inch by 2 inch (50.8 mm by 50.8 mm) mounts. Many photo labs print a frame number on each mount and may also print the month and year the film was processed on the mount. Some photo labs use mounts that are pre-printed with the brand of film or processing that was used. Also, when 35 mm transparencies are duplicated, the duplicate transparencies are typically labeled to distinguish them from the original slide. While all of this information from the photo lab helps in organization of the collection of slides, it rarely is sufficient to catalog a large collection. Many photographers place further identification on each slide mount, such as a roll number, subject of the slide, copyright notice, location where the slide was shot, and/or the name and address of the photographer.
By printing or writing all of this information directly on the slide mount, the photographer is assured that the information is securely associated with a particular image. However, should the photographer scan some or all of a collection of images, this information may be neglected. If not neglected, the information likely will have to be manually entered into a database for association with the proper image. This process may be error prone when a large number of images are captured or scanned in a single session. Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and/or apparatus that allows users to electronically capture both the image data and any associated information for the image.
An image capture device, such as a scanner, is built including hardware necessary to capture both reflective and transmissive image data from a transparency. The device may associate the two types of data internally or rely on other hardware, such as a controlling computer, to do the association of the two quantities of data. In one possible embodiment, the device would include the ability to perform optical character recognition (OCR) of the reflective data (or the transmissive data, if desired), converting to a type of text format any printing on the transparency.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.